


Hope County 2

by BlueEyedArcher



Series: Hope County Collection [2]
Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, Autumn, Best Friends, Bliss (Far Cry), Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Celebrations, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Nostalgia, Past Relationship(s), Pranks and Practical Jokes, Religious Conflict, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-05 04:31:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15856251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueEyedArcher/pseuds/BlueEyedArcher
Summary: A collection of fics that tell a larger story. The continuation of Hope County with everyone's favorite mute, Jasper Slade and his brother Angelo Luciano as they interact with both sides of a religious war and try to keep each other and their loved ones alive.





	Hope County 2

Colors burst across the landscape as the summer shifted a steady flow into autumn. The pumpkin patch was full of varying sized orange orbs and the orchards were overflowing with apples, prime for picking. The bears were emerging from the surrounding woods to feast on the ripe fruit before the winter cold could claim them into a long sleep. The leaves swayed and pulled as the wind danced about, bringing them to flutter to the earth in dainty swirls. Each breath was crisp and clean, cooling his lungs with every inhale and absorbing the essence of the season into his body. The red flannel material fit snug over his body as he buttoned it up, leaving only a small opening at the neck where the thick leather of his collar was present. Boots crunched on the leaves as he carried baskets out to the orchard and filled them with crisp plump apples, red and green tinted skin blotting the colors into a warming display of nostalgia. Gloved hands carefully and expertly navigated each branch. 

 

Another set of hands aided in the efforts just on the other side of the fence. The one eyed man was clad in a dark navy blue thermal with sleeves rolled to his elbows. A red pair of gloves gripped and groped around the pumpkin in hand, working them free of their vines and hefting the large orbs into the back of the Eden’s Gate truck. A dozen or so of large pumpkins with a handful of smaller ones littered the back. Several baskets of apples were tucked in around them and covered with a protective tarp. The good golden eye glancing back at the mute as he whistled for his attention. “Think thats enough for today Jasp! Lets head back.” He urged with a wave, as Jasper’s boots crunched up along the trail towards the truck. It was a quiet day, the chill of the air nipping at his nose and around his cheeks, the raven locks disheveled by the subtle wind, rising and falling in short gusts.

 

They made the long drive back to the ranch where John awaited them on the front porch. The guards milled about in dispersed patrols with Jacob resting in a rocking chair overlooking the expanse of forest and the colorful hues that shaded it. A glass of sweet tea nestled in hand, the sweat drops dripping from the base of the mason jar as he raised it to his lips. Glacial blue hues meeting the mute’s gaze as they pulled up to the porch. John stepped down to greet Angelo with a hug, fussing at the dirt that accumulated on his sleeves and the blades of grass in his hair. “What did you two do, roll in the dirt?”

 

Jasper gave himself a once over but didn’t seem to find anything out of place. Angelo on the other hand, he had mud capping his jeans where he knelt in the fresh turned up soil. When he glanced back up, Jacob had joined him, plucking a stray leaf from Jasper’s lock and coaxing a twig out from behind his hair. Jasper gave a confused look, wondering back to when he gathered the offending debris but eventually shrugged it off and made for the back of the truck. “That the new flannel I got you, Jasper?” John’s voice picked up as he came around the other side with Angelo, unfurling the tarp to look over their collected goods from the farms and orchards in the valley. Jasper nodded in affirmation as he untied the corner of the tarp and pulled it back. 

 

“Looks good on you pup.” Jacob’s voice was a low rumble in his ear as the soldier leaned around his pet to reach one of the larger baskets of apples. He passed it off to John and watched his little brother turn his nose up at the dirt that crusted the bottom of the basket. A soft chuckle peppered into the open air as he handed the next baskets off to Jasper and Angelo, clearing the way for the bigger, heavier targets. He hefted the largest of the pumpkins with relative ease, making angelo roll his eyes as everything was brought in. The apples went inside and the pumpkins were set out on the porch for later. 

 

Inside, Joseph and Faith were sitting in the kitchen talking softly to one another. A radio played softly on the kitchen counter as the oven warmed up. A pot of coffee was just finishing up brewing as Faith poured tea for herself and Joseph. John, Jacob and Angelo each made a cup of coffee. Angelo made an extra for Jasper who started washing all the apples by hand. Angelo joined in while Jacob started peeling the washed one with a potato peeler. The boys started an assembly line of work, John sitting at the end removing the cores and slicing each apple into quarters. From there, Jasper took over. Boiling the apples in a mix of water, sugar, cinnamon and a myriad of herbs and spices, following a recipe jotted down in his special blue bound book chock full of Miss Petunia’s best recipes. 

 

While that boiled, he put a lid on it, stirring only occasionally as it bubbled up. He turned his attention to more apples, dicing them up and making a filling for a cobbler. It didn’t take long as he set that into the oven to cook. Meanwhile, Jacob and John were setting up the pumpkin carving station outside on the porch. A tarp was laid out as they cut the bottoms of the pumpkins out and pulled all the guts from the insides out and piled them into a large bowl. Faith and Joseph joined them as Jacob brought the innards to the kitchen for Jasper. Angelo collected a series of colorful markers and small carving knives and met the rest outside. Each of the Seeds had found their ideal pumpkin and started the task of carving. Faith and Joseph seemed more interested in just coloring on their pumpkins. John and Jacob were the most competitive as they made intricate designs with their markers and carefully started their work on some of the larger pumpkins. 

 

Angelo lingered in the kitchen, watching Jasper sort the seeds from the pumpkin goo, laying them out and seasoning them with spices before putting them in the oven to toast up nicely. He was thankful for John’s ridiculously large kitchen as he pulled the cobbler from the oven to cool and set up. By then, the cider was read as he strained it into a mesh, using Angelo’s help then finished it off by pushing it through a cheesecloth. The hot liquid gathered into a pitcher where it was doled out into six different cups. He set them out on a tray and brought the drinks to the porch where John and Jacob were sharing banter back and forth. 

 

Joseph and Faith were showing off their colored pumpkins, Faith having a black cat curling around the side with its tail being the curly stem on top. Joseph’s was just a bunch of religious markings and Eden’s Gate’s insignia. He was proud of it nonetheless. Jasper took pictures of each pumpkin and the brothers still working while Angelo handed out the cider to each. Angel took a sip of his own glass before jumping into the competition with his fingers itching for a knife. Jasper’s own knife skills were unrivaled but his artistry left a lot to be desired so he was content to sit beside Faith at the picnic table and drink his cider. Occasionally walking around to take photos of the trio working hard on the tarp. 

 

Angelo’s appeared to be a raven with wings unfurling across the expanse of orange. Each feather was cut shallowly to give it a tribal sort of depth. Jacob’s appeared to be the face of a wolf with teeth bared into a snarl. John’s was far more intricate and seemed to resemble a few of his own tattoos. By time they finished, the wind was picking up outside and the pumpkins looked like works of art as they lined the steps leading inside the ranch. The boys stood proudly by their accomplishments as Jasper took a photo of them all together. Joseph and Faith sitting between as they held up their own brightly colored pumpkins. What was left over, from the scraps and cuttings, Jasper gathered up to cook down into pumpkin filling for later. 

 

The six of them gathered inside, John and Jacob nudging elbows at the sink as they playful disputed whose carving was better. They cleaned the guts and goo off their hands as Jasper began to cut the cobbler. Angelo wiped down his own mess and retrieved a large mixing bowl filled with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. A sweet treat that was buried deep in the recesses of Miss Petunia’s cookbook. Angelo found Jasper sitting up at midnight the night before, making it with the full intent to gather apples in the morning for cobbler. With it nice and frozen, Angelo scooped out a helping for each bowl passed to him, leaving his own bowl without. They gathered around the dining room table, gorging themselves on sweet delicacies and sipping hot cider from their mugs. The atmosphere was quiet but so very cozy, without any need for speech to intervene and fill the gaps of silence.

 

As night pulled closer and the weather turned foul with stronger winds and darker clouds, they gathered around in the living room with mugs of cocoa. The fire crackling as they passed bowls around full of seasoned pumpkin seeds and popcorn. Blankets were strewn about with blankets, Jasper and Angelo sprawled across the floor together, curled up. Jacob sank down in his favorite chair while John and Faith occupied the couch. Joseph took up the adjacent chair opposite Jacob as they listened to the quiet crackle of the fire licking at the wood. The warmth flooding the room and leaving a nostalgic sense that seemed long forgotten and only revived when the colors turned and the chill nipped at their noses once more. 


End file.
